An ex-con from Florida has been busted for a heartbreaking 40-year-old cold case murder of a young mom — after he unexpectedly called police to say he had a tip about it.
Gary Glowacz, 70, of Middleburg, was arrested for the brutal 1987 killing of Melissa Taylor Ellison within hours of calling cops on July 8, according to police, who did not reveal exactly what he told them.
Ellison, the 20-year-old mother of a toddler, was found beaten to death in her bedroom in Jacksonville in December of that year, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
An intruder broke a window to get into the home, then hit Ellison in the head with a charred log from her fireplace, police later said.
Ellison’s roommates heard her 13-month-old daughter crying on the couch, went to check on Ellison — and found her dead in her bed with blunt force trauma, according to police.
Detectives at the time reviewed the evidence and conducted interviews, but the investigation ultimately went cold.
Glowacz was interviewed by detectives soon after calling cops, who arrested him for the murder.
Details of the phone call were not immediately known, and cops didn’t say why they moved quickly to arrest him.
Glowacz has a criminal history, including convictions in 1989 and 1996 for buying cocaine, according to News4Jax.
He was also convicted of burglary in 1998.
He was charged with murder and burglary with battery.
